by Cathy Gilmore | Nov 3, 2017 | Features
Many Kindex users have asked us, “What exactly do I get when I sign up for Kindex?” We’re glad you asked! Here’s a summary of all our key features.
Create Your Cloud or Closet Archive
- Kindex Cloud archive is a publicly accessible archive. Cloud owners may invite Collaborators to add or index records. Guests must have a free, “Kindexer” account to index records.
- Kindex Closet archive is a private, invite-only archive. Closet owners may invite Collaborators to add or index records. It is only accessible and searchable to the archive owner and invited Collaborators
- All archives receive a custom subdomain, can add unlimited records, and may invite unlimited collaborators
- Archive backed by Amazon Web Services.
Gather Your Records
- Add unlimited records (jpg, png, pdf up to 15MB each)
- Import Memories from FamilySearch.
- Individual or batch uploads
Collaborate with Others
- Invite unlimited friends and family to access the archive, free
- Collaborators can search, add, and index records
- Unite records scattered among various households or locations
- Create a crowdsourced indexing project (public archives only)
Share Your Records
Share records & transcriptions with anyone on a custom page
Add Data to Your Records
- Add searchable metadata (title, description, keywords, etc.) in single records or in batches
- Add a transcription with our built-in transcription tools
- Add tags for people, places, and events
Search Your Records
- Easily and quickly search every word of your archive
- Search includes metadata and transcriptions
Archive Tools
- Download your archive data as a CSV or XLS file
- Download your archive records as a ZIP file
- Print individual transcriptions as QR-Coded PDFs
- View record totals and indexing stats
Support
- Free customer support
- Free training
by Cathy Gilmore | Sep 6, 2017 | Features, Software
Kindex is excited to announce several updates to our archival web software that will make indexing your family records faster and easier.
1. View Record Progress at a Glance
See at a glance your record transcription status with our new “In Progress” label. Start a new transcription (click “Transcribe”), finish incomplete transcriptions (click “In Progress”), or read completed transcriptions (click records with a white checkmark).
2. Transcribe Records Back-to-Back
Get transcriptions done quickly and efficiently with our new “Save & Do Next” option. When you are done transcribing a record, click “Save & Do Next” and Kindex will automatically load the next record in the Collection for transcription.
Alternatively, you can click “Save & Read”, which opens a new page where you can review, edit, or tag your transcription.
3. Transcribe tables, forms, and other tabular text with new table tool
Our new table tool enables you to create tables in the transcription field to transcribe records that require some organization of text, such as official records, ledgers, or records with columns or tabulated text. With the table tool you can add a table, merge, edit rows and columns, add a table header, and customize vertical and horizontal text alignment.
Hint: If you are transcribing text from common record types that have repeated fields (i.e., postcards, marriage records, ledgers), create a table template that designates data fields. Then, copy and paste the table from your existing transcription window into the transcription of each new record so transcribers can input the text in the correct fields.
4. Download archive data as a CSV file
Our CSV archive download is a fantastic tool archive owners can use to access archive data, analyze archive status and needs, and backup archive data.
To download your archive as a CSV:
- Log in to your archive and go to Manage Archive (click the green cog in upper right corner
) and
- Select the Tools tab.
- Click “Download Archive as CSV”)
Open your downloaded CSV file to your archive data. Includes Archive Name, Archive Subdomain, File Name, Collection, Title, Person, Description, Keywords, Provenance, Date, Place, Contributor, Transcription, and Tags.
We hope you find these tools helpful when transcribing your family or historical society records! Is there a feature you would like to see? Contact us and tell us about it.
It’s time to be the record rescuer your family needs. Start or upgrade your family archive on Kindex.org today.
SIGN UP OR LOG IN!
by Cathy Gilmore | Jul 14, 2017 | News
A few days ago, we visited The Alamo. No, not
that one. The
historic home of Ezra T. and Mary Stevenson Clark in Farmington, Utah, with its architectural stylings reflective of the Alamo, was the childhood home of Kindex founder Kimball Clark. On a mission to rescue records for a treasure hunt for the upcoming
MyFamily History Youth Camp at BYU, we thought of no better place to start than in our own backyard.
Welcome to the Alamo.
I had a few minutes waiting for Kimball to arrive, so I poked around outside, walking deep into the expansive property. Situated on historic “Clark Lane” in Farmington, Utah, the property stretches north reaching the Farmington Creek Trail and Lagoon Park. So close is Lagoon that I could hear clack of amusement rides and the screams of thrill-seekers just a stone’s throw away.
Kimball’s father Charles Clark collected, among other things, wagon wheels.
And other kinds of wheels.
The random patterns of native field stones.
A marker for the old telephone system cables. It has not been disturbed.
At last, Kimball is here! Now, where’s that key.
Once inside, we had a great time exploring the home. I remember coming to this home once in a while to visit Charles and Sally’s family, but it had been at least 20 years. Wandering from room to room in the heavy July heat, we discovered some great things. Buried between craft boxes, tools, and boxes of old bills were family genealogies, old photos, letters, and a few other surprises.
A few items from a dusty old suitcase.
This 161-year old home is thick with memory. Treasure hunting aside, I loved looking around the various rooms and hearing Kimball’s memories of growing up here. With eight brothers and one sister, Kimball has no shortage of stories from this house.
A view in the kitchen.
A well-worn banister post cap.
Someday soon, Kimball will share some memories of him growing up in that historic pioneer home. That’s his story to tell. In the mean time, we’ll keep hunting for treasures and putting them on Kindex, one dusty suitcase at a time.
by Cathy Gilmore | Mar 25, 2017 | Features, Software
Updated 03.27.2017
March Software Updates:
- Upgrade to a Collaborative Archive to transform your archive into a destination where friends or family can help gather, index, and search—or simply enjoy reading family records. Invite unlimited people at no cost to them.
- Set your Collaborative Archives to public or private.
- Access your archive via your custom subdomain.
- Add an Archive Name and Description to help users identify and learn more about your archive.
- Start a crowdsource indexing by choosing a public collaborative archive. Jumpstart your indexing by allowing any Kindex user to transcribe and tag your records. Public archives also help others to discover and connect to your archive.
- New FAQ Page.
Learn more about Collaborative Archives and Public vs. Private Archives.
SIGN UP
What’s Next:
Guys, we’re pretty excited about these updates coming up next!
- Organize records into collections
- Batch record uploads
- Batch macro data tagging
Updated 02.05.2017
We are excited to announce the Release of Kindex 1.0 at RootsTech 2017. Here’s a rundown of recent software updates, new pricing, and what upcoming features you can look forward to.
Software Updates for the week of February 5th 2017
- Simplified record uploads
- Record tagging (names, dates, places)
- Archive search capabilities
- Kindex user accounts (no FamilySearch login requirement)
- Reserve your archive subdomain
- Simplified FamilySearch Memory imports
- Expanded fields for gathering record data
- New transcription text editor tools
- New Manage Archive tool with payment processing
New RootsTech Pricing
Don’t miss the chance to take advantage of special RootsTech pricing.
- Sign up for a free archive (up to 50 records)
- Add Unlimited records: $10/month
- Add Unlimited + Collaborative: $15/month or $150/year (Pre-Sale only*)
*Subdomains and collaborative features (invite tools and multiple user access to archives) will be available soon. Users will be notified when their subdomains are ready.
What’s Coming Soon
- Batch record uploads
- Access your archive via your custom subdomain
- Invite and collaborate with multiple users in your archive (users access free)
- Organize records into collections
- Write records to FamilySearch
- Improved record type filtering
- Download your complete archive to a CSV file
The Next Big Thing
- Kindex Projects (create custom indexing fields and tags for your archive)
- KinSnap mobile app development
- Custom home pages for collaborative archives
- Organize records into collections
- Earn indexing credits and pay less for your subscription
- Kindex-sponsored record gathering events
- Integration on FamilySearch.org
New Pages
by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 8, 2017 | Features
Do you wish there was a better way to archive and search your family’s letters, journals, and photos? Are you still using a combination of spreadsheets, PDFs, and word processing tools to transcribe your family history records? For Archive Awareness Week, we are reprising our top ten reasons why we love Kindex.
- We’ve got SaaS. Kindex is web software containing tools to help you archive and index, and search your digital records. There is no software to install, just go to kindex.org and create an account.
- We ❤ hoarders. We all know the feeling. Someone in your family wants to borrow the priceless family record you’ve kept in your home for years? Hard pass. Rather than wait until they pry it from your cold, dead hands, why not digitize those records and put them on Kindex? You can make your archive public or private, and invite others to view and index. So, whether your a record-keeper, a record-hoarder, or you’re a downright record-hider, Kindex helps you share your precious family records without the risk of your great-nephew spilling his Starbucks on your grandfather’s journal. And, you can learn what’s been hiding in Aunt Sue’s closet all these years (well, besides those bell-bottoms).
- We have layers. With Kindex you can add layers of searchable data to your records. We move beyond titles and descriptions to include valuable data points such as record provenance, transcription, keywords, date, place, and addtional tags.
- Share the love. Are you the family historian that gets stuck with all the work? Not anymore. Create a Kindex Family archive and share your records (and the indexing work) with anyone. Get your family and friends involved, and they might learn why you’re so crazy about your ancestors. Or just why you’re crazy. Still, they may be inspired to add a few records of their own to share with you, so it’s a win-win.
- Thanks for the Memories. Kindex is integrated with FamilySearch, which means you can import the Memories you’ve added to FamilySearch into Kindex and make them searchable with our indexing tools. In the coming weeks we’ll also have the ability to share Kindex records back to FamilySearch. That means all the people you tagged with FamilySearch IDs in your record transcriptions? They’ll get shared with those people on FamilySearch.
- Be a rescuer. Having a well-preserved letter, journal, or diary of an ancestor is at the top of many people’s wish list. Kindex offers families the ability to grant this wish by helping gather, index, and share records that would otherwise be lost, damaged, or thrown away. Rescue your family records on Kindex—your descendants will thank you.
- Search your way. Tired of searching huge genealogy databases and getting too many (or not enough) results? With Kindex you can create personal or family archives containing just the records you want, so you get the search results you want.
- Like, settle down with the family history. We get it. You would rather research Alexander Hamilton, or bugs, or Roald Dahl? You can use Kindex to archive, index, and research any topic. Put your documents on Kindex, and start indexing. Just make sure you’re the record holder, or you have permission to upload and index that record.
- You’re special, but not special enough to have your own indexing software. Some archives are lucky — they have their own custom indexing software. But if you’re not the Smithsonian or National Archives, it doesn’t mean you’re stuck doing the old Spreadsheet/Microsoft Word/PDF tango. Are you an archivist, historian, researcher, or librarian who needs a custom solution for indexing a collection? Kindex Projects, due to be released in Spring 2017, will support records that require custom indexing fields, multiple download formats, and privacy options.
- Kids these days. It’s been said that kids nowadays don’t read—they search. By offering a searchable database of family records, Kindex provides a familiar and fun gateway for people to enter and learn quickly about their ancestor. Then, after they read an indexed record, they may be inspired to jump in and index one themselves. The feeling you get when you read and transcribe a record your ancestor kept is one we hope everyone feels—especially our kids.
